Embodiments of the present invention relate to wine racks, and more particularly to a wine rack suitable for storing and displaying wine bottles horizontally and transversely, supported on a pair of substantially parallel dowels extending between transversely adjacent vertical supports
U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,003 to Muhlack discloses a wall element for the presentation of goods, such as wine. The longitudinal axis of the bottles are inclined perpendicularly to the wall surface; however the corks are not in direct contact with the inclined wine bottles, which increases the risk that the corks will dry out and air will enter the container, spoiling the wine. The grid extends across the face of the wine bottles, complicating removal of the wine bottle from the wall element, and partially obscuring the wine labels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,765 to Crosby discloses a wine rack for horizontally cradling a plurality of wine bottles. Bottles are cradled by chains which are slidably received in inclined slots extending through a front facing. Two cradles are formed to support each bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,772,787 to Rumford discloses a bottle rack, wherein the bottle rim is supported between two bossed bars. This stores the bottles vertically by suspending them from a rim at the top of the bottle, which rim is not typically found on wine bottles.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,090,108 to Cicero discloses a shoe rack having spaced apart horizontal bars designed to support multiple shoes. The rack is collapsible when not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,404,555 to Smith disclose""s a shoe rack having horizontal parallel bi-level rods which are inclined to support a plurality of shoes thereon.
This prior art is representative of racks which store articles relatively horizontally and adjacent to a wall surface. None of the above patents disclose or suggest the embodiments of the present invention.
The embodiments of the present invention provide a wine rack apparatus having a planar frame defining one or more columns having one or more rows configured for storing wine bottles or the like therein. Each row comprises a pair of horizontally spaced-apart dowels generally parallel to one another and extending between adjacent vertical supports of the frame that are transversely spaced apart. The pair of dowels is spaced apart sufficiently to support a wine bottle or the like horizontally thereon and transversely within the frame. The ends of each dowel are secured within suitable apertures bored into the vertical supports. The vertical supports are spaced sufficiently apart to receive at least one wine bottle therebetween. The number of vertical supports determines the number of columns in the apparatus. The number of pairs of dowels determines the number of rows in each column.